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www.wordsofobscurity.com
Home Page ~ Word List Index ~ Featured Lists
Obscure, Rare, Unusual and Obsolete
Logophile Language, Writing and Words Knowledge, Intellect, Deep and Profound
Creativity and Technology
Dark, Mystical, Supernatural and Risqué
Human Psyche, Emotions & Feelings
The Universe and World We Live In
Translating our World | Translating our Slang
Reference Corner - library for language & words
FEATURED LISTS WITH COMMENTARY
Pondering the Phobia | Pirate Story & Language
DIRECTORY OF LANGUAGE and WORDS
Logophile | Words | Obscure | Writing | Speech Literature | Poetry | Rhetoric | Grammar | Vocab Reference Reads | Top 10 Lists | Language Home
Search site below or use Advanced Search
An Exploration of the Elizabethan Age LANGUAGE CONTRIBUTIONS
DIRECTORY OF WORD LISTS
Golden Age of Elizabethan English
Golden Era Lexicon | Golden Era Alphabet
Shakespearean Lexicon |His Writing Devices
Words | Word Fails | Expressions | Idioms
Narrative of a Logophile Bardolatry
bardolatry refers to Shakespearean mania
RELATED POSTS
The Humor of a Shakespearean Insult
Shakespearean Translation of Star Trek ?
Golden Age of Elizabethan English
Golden Era Lexicon | Golden Era Alphabet
Shakespearean Lexicon |His Writing Devices
Words | Word Fails | Expressions | Idioms
Narrative of a Logophile Bardolatry
bardolatry refers to Shakespearean mania
RELATED POSTS
The Humor of a Shakespearean Insult
Shakespearean Translation of Star Trek ?
SHAKESPEAREAN LEXICON
In Hamlet in Act II, scene 2, an inquisitive
Polonius posed this question to Hamlet:
"What do you read, my lord?"
To which Hamlet nonchalantly replied:
"Words, words, words"
Polonius posed this question to Hamlet:
"What do you read, my lord?"
To which Hamlet nonchalantly replied:
"Words, words, words"
Shakespeare gives us uniquely vivid ways in which to express hope and despair, sorrow and rage, love and lust. Even if you’ve never read one of his sonnets or seen a play or watched a movie adaptation, you’re likely to have quoted him unwittingly. It’s almost impossible not to.
Shakespeare's language is astonishingly rich in vocabulary. There are about 29,000 words presented through unforgettable characters such as Hamlet, Macbeth, Lear, Othello, Rosalind, Viola, Iago, Shylock, etc.
Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and five poetry collections, writing a total of 17,677 unique words. Victorian word expert F Max Muller suggests a portion of words he invented himself were coined by merging existing words and anglicizing vocabulary from foreign languages. Lexicographers have credited him as many as 3,200 English words but that number has dwindled to about 1000. A tally by the OED in the fifties was 3,200. Today, it’s around 2,000.
In contrast, other word usages were estimated for:
We say these are words invented by Shakespeare, though in reality many of the words to his credit may have been commonly used during the Elizabethan and Jacobean era. Shakespeare may just be credited for using some of them in his plays, sonnets and poems. In this case, Shakespeare would have been the first known person to document these words in writing.
Honorificabilitudinitatibus is the longest word in Shakespeare’s works, and also the longest word in the English language featuring alternating consonants and vowels. It means ‘the state of being able to achieve honours’ and appears in Act V, Scene I of Love’s Labour’s Lost.
THE EVOLUTION OF HIS WORDS
Over time, many of the original meanings have evolved. For example, the phrase "sweets to the sweet'' from Hamlet has since become a well known romantic phrase. In the original play, however, the line is uttered by Hamlet’s mother as she scatters funeral flowers across Ophelia’s grave in Act 5, Scene 1:
Queen:
(Scattering flowers)
Sweets to the sweet, farewell!
I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife:
I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid,
And not have strew'd thy grave."
This context does not carry the same romantic sentiment.
Some words have shifted meaning over the centuries, such as 'proper' (handsome), 'nice' (squeamish or delicate), 'silly' (innocent), or 'cousin' (kinsman, that is, not necessarily the child of an aunt or uncle. Semantic change affects meaning. When Shakespeare uses 'conceit,' he does not mean 'vanity,' as we might understand it to be. Shakespeare's etymological meaning is actually a 'conception' or 'notion,' or possibly the 'imagination' itself.
Some words may have been dropped from common use like the word 'bisson' (blind). Other words may have never stood a chance to go viral. Words that never caught on include ‘conspectuities' (eyesight or vision) or 'unplausive' (doubtful or disapproving). Click here for more Shakespearean Fails..
UNDERSTANDING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare's vocabulary can be a stumbling block to readers. The theatrical rendering of a text is better understood because a performance is storytelling. The. performers capture the emotional and narrative context.by creating an immersive experience. They set the stage with visual imagery, auditory effects, and their voice, tone and body language tell the story. A reader uses visualization to create context and relies on thror comprehension to make sense of unfamiliar terms and phrases.
Remember English class in your sophomore year in high school? The literary canon sets the educational standards in this country so your (crotchety ole shrew?) of a teacher most likely put a copy of A Midsummer's Night Dream in your hands. A light comedic introduction to Shakespeare wins hands down over a heavy drama. But that doesn’t mean it’s not confusing when reading it, writing an essay about it and then cramming for the test on it. When it was over, however, you may have seen the movie. Did it help answer your questions? Shakespeare is not stylized as an author. He was a playwright and a poet. His work is best enjoyed when watching it in action - unless you were an English major like me.
QUICK FLASHBACK
Click here for my personal narrative related to this flashback. It sets the scene.
I attended a London based university for two semesters in my college study abroad program. My 2nd term was an independent study of Shakespeare’s work and I was required to produce a thesis. The historic Globe theatre was undergoing renovations at the time, but I was only a train ride from the theatre in Stratford upon-Avon (his birthplace). During the term I was able to attend four different productions to support my thesis - a comparative analysis on this very topic. I posed the question - what medium packed the biggest punch? What gives the most impact in understanding - reading a play or watching it? The answer is subjective - only you can answer it definitively for yourself.
My conclusion theorized that one understands the most from the text but enjoys the most from a performance. There is a time limit on enjoyment and content fades from your conscious thought once you leave a live performance. Enjoying a play does not equate to comprehension. When watching a play you are immersed in the story live “in the moment.”
The impact of watching a performance is felt while the impact from reading the content brings understanding. Both have merit, but to get the most impact, read his words first to understand his meaning and then watch a performance to experience it.
But just like any book turned into a movie - it’s generally accepted that a book is always better!
Shakespeare's language is astonishingly rich in vocabulary. There are about 29,000 words presented through unforgettable characters such as Hamlet, Macbeth, Lear, Othello, Rosalind, Viola, Iago, Shylock, etc.
Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and five poetry collections, writing a total of 17,677 unique words. Victorian word expert F Max Muller suggests a portion of words he invented himself were coined by merging existing words and anglicizing vocabulary from foreign languages. Lexicographers have credited him as many as 3,200 English words but that number has dwindled to about 1000. A tally by the OED in the fifties was 3,200. Today, it’s around 2,000.
In contrast, other word usages were estimated for:
- Milton used 8,000 words
- The Old Testament is made up of 5,642 words.
- Any uneducated agricultural worker of the Elizabethan period could have said all he needed to in fewer than 300 words.
We say these are words invented by Shakespeare, though in reality many of the words to his credit may have been commonly used during the Elizabethan and Jacobean era. Shakespeare may just be credited for using some of them in his plays, sonnets and poems. In this case, Shakespeare would have been the first known person to document these words in writing.
Honorificabilitudinitatibus is the longest word in Shakespeare’s works, and also the longest word in the English language featuring alternating consonants and vowels. It means ‘the state of being able to achieve honours’ and appears in Act V, Scene I of Love’s Labour’s Lost.
THE EVOLUTION OF HIS WORDS
Over time, many of the original meanings have evolved. For example, the phrase "sweets to the sweet'' from Hamlet has since become a well known romantic phrase. In the original play, however, the line is uttered by Hamlet’s mother as she scatters funeral flowers across Ophelia’s grave in Act 5, Scene 1:
Queen:
(Scattering flowers)
Sweets to the sweet, farewell!
I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife:
I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid,
And not have strew'd thy grave."
This context does not carry the same romantic sentiment.
Some words have shifted meaning over the centuries, such as 'proper' (handsome), 'nice' (squeamish or delicate), 'silly' (innocent), or 'cousin' (kinsman, that is, not necessarily the child of an aunt or uncle. Semantic change affects meaning. When Shakespeare uses 'conceit,' he does not mean 'vanity,' as we might understand it to be. Shakespeare's etymological meaning is actually a 'conception' or 'notion,' or possibly the 'imagination' itself.
Some words may have been dropped from common use like the word 'bisson' (blind). Other words may have never stood a chance to go viral. Words that never caught on include ‘conspectuities' (eyesight or vision) or 'unplausive' (doubtful or disapproving). Click here for more Shakespearean Fails..
UNDERSTANDING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare's vocabulary can be a stumbling block to readers. The theatrical rendering of a text is better understood because a performance is storytelling. The. performers capture the emotional and narrative context.by creating an immersive experience. They set the stage with visual imagery, auditory effects, and their voice, tone and body language tell the story. A reader uses visualization to create context and relies on thror comprehension to make sense of unfamiliar terms and phrases.
Remember English class in your sophomore year in high school? The literary canon sets the educational standards in this country so your (crotchety ole shrew?) of a teacher most likely put a copy of A Midsummer's Night Dream in your hands. A light comedic introduction to Shakespeare wins hands down over a heavy drama. But that doesn’t mean it’s not confusing when reading it, writing an essay about it and then cramming for the test on it. When it was over, however, you may have seen the movie. Did it help answer your questions? Shakespeare is not stylized as an author. He was a playwright and a poet. His work is best enjoyed when watching it in action - unless you were an English major like me.
QUICK FLASHBACK
Click here for my personal narrative related to this flashback. It sets the scene.
I attended a London based university for two semesters in my college study abroad program. My 2nd term was an independent study of Shakespeare’s work and I was required to produce a thesis. The historic Globe theatre was undergoing renovations at the time, but I was only a train ride from the theatre in Stratford upon-Avon (his birthplace). During the term I was able to attend four different productions to support my thesis - a comparative analysis on this very topic. I posed the question - what medium packed the biggest punch? What gives the most impact in understanding - reading a play or watching it? The answer is subjective - only you can answer it definitively for yourself.
My conclusion theorized that one understands the most from the text but enjoys the most from a performance. There is a time limit on enjoyment and content fades from your conscious thought once you leave a live performance. Enjoying a play does not equate to comprehension. When watching a play you are immersed in the story live “in the moment.”
- When you watch something you encode your feelings about it so your interpretation is cloudy because it’s based on your perceptions of the material. The emotional impact.
- When you read something you embed what you learned from it. This interpretation is based on cognitive understanding or comprehension of the material.
- The source material is subject to creative control when it is translated into a performance. A script is an adaptation and the director, the production efforts and the performers can affect our comprehension. And our perceptions of what we see and feel affect true understanding of the source material.
The impact of watching a performance is felt while the impact from reading the content brings understanding. Both have merit, but to get the most impact, read his words first to understand his meaning and then watch a performance to experience it.
But just like any book turned into a movie - it’s generally accepted that a book is always better!
DIRECTORY OF WORD LISTS
Golden Age of Elizabethan English
Golden Era Lexicon | Golden Era Alphabet
Shakespearean Lexicon |His Writing Devices
Words | Word Fails | Expressions | Idioms
Narrative of a Logophile Bardolatry
bardolatry refers to Shakespearean mania
RELATED POSTS
The Humor of a Shakespearean Insult
Shakespearean Translation of Star Trek ?
Golden Age of Elizabethan English
Golden Era Lexicon | Golden Era Alphabet
Shakespearean Lexicon |His Writing Devices
Words | Word Fails | Expressions | Idioms
Narrative of a Logophile Bardolatry
bardolatry refers to Shakespearean mania
RELATED POSTS
The Humor of a Shakespearean Insult
Shakespearean Translation of Star Trek ?
